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Dwayne Johnson's Jungle Cruise Moves Back to 2020 Release Date

Disney's Dwayne Johnson-led Jungle Cruise movie has been officially pushed back to a 2020 release date. The film is (of course) based on Disneyland's classic Adventureland theme park attraction, which takes guests on a early 20th century-style riverboat tour around the world's various jungles. Johnson is starring in the historical action-adventure as, reportedly, a riverboat captain who teams up with a scientist (Emily Blunt) to undertake an expedition in South America, in search of a legendary tree that may or may not possess supernatural abilities.

Johnson, Blunt, and director Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) officially wrapped production on Jungle Cruise back in September, well ahead of the October 2019 launch date that Disney had originally selected for the film. The theme park ride adaptation would have opened directly against several other wide releases on its former date, including (most notably) the long-awaited sequel Zombieland 2 and an animated Addams Family that features the voices of Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron. As of today, however, Jungle Cruise will be competing in 2020's summer blockbuster derby, instead.

Johnson took to his Twitter account to announce that Jungle Cruise has moved back from its original October 11, 2019 theatrical release date to July 24, 2020. You can check out his announcement post (which includes a Jungle Cruise logo clip), in the space below:

IT’S OFFICIAL - JULY 24th, 2020. Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages. My partner in crime, Emily Blunt and I, lovingly invite you to join us for THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME. All aboard...😈@DisneyStudios JUNGLE CRUISE 🚢 🗺🌴❤️🥃 pic.twitter.com/DNTnqSb3QD

By the look of things, Jungle Cruise's delay is the direct result of another change that the Mouse House only just made to its movie docket. The company had been holding onto a July 31, 2020 release date for an untitled Marvel Studios film, but that is no longer the case. It's certainly possible that said July date was originally meant for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, before the sequel was put on indefinite hold in the aftermath of director James Gunn being fired. Another possibility is that Marvel Studios' larger Phase 4 release plan has been changed following Gunn's departure, which is why its mysterious July 2020 film has been moved elsewhere.

Whatever the case may be, Jungle Cruise is an appropriate replacement for Disney's original July 2020 release. The combination of The Rock's star-power and the broad appeal of the Disney theme park brand will be enough to make the film a proper contender in that year's summer blockbuster throw-down, especially in its first weekend at the box office. While the movie is, admittedly, set to face-off with a DC film on its new date, there's a real possibility that the latter will ultimately be moved as well, in light of the DC cinematic universe's ever-changing release slate. And more than that: does Warner Bros./DC really want to go toe to toe with The Rock, anyway?